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TIL that a real light bulb cartel lowered the average lifespan of a bulb to 1,000 hours in order to boost sales in the 1920s. Their successful work popularized the concept of planned obsolescence.

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8a1pa TIL that Jeremiah G. Hamilton was a Wall Street broker noted as "the only Black millionaire in New York" about a decade before the American Civil War. He amassed a fortune of $2 million ($250,000,000 in 2018 dollars) by the time of his death in 1875. He was known as "The Prince of Darkness"
N7kDN TIL: John Mulaney used to be neighbors with the 'Cannibal Cop' from New York.
vg7D TIL Albertville, France’s electricity is powered by Beaufort cheese. Since whey is unnecessary to make Beaufort cheese, bacteria is added to the whey. This transforms the whey into biogas. This gas is then fed through an engine which heats water to 90°C (194°F) to generate 2800 MWh/yr of electricity
VMOxB TIL Nike paid $35 to then student designer Carolyn Davidson for their iconic “Swoosh” logo
GoY1 TIL Japanese do not call atomic bomb explosions “mushroom clouds”, they call them “pillar of fire” - because that was how they saw and experienced it.